Track-sanding device.



No. 841,144. PATENTED JAN. 15, 190'?. J. H. HANLON.

TRACK SANDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 15m16.190s.

Mmmm

IIIIII/IIIIIIIIII y m" 1a w25 @eg/VLA.

TME mmRls PETERS ca., WASHINGTON, n. r

JOHN H. I-IANLON, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

TRACK-SANDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 15, 1907.

Application filed May 16, 1906. Serial No. 317.088.

To all whom t nfl/ty concern/.-

Be it known that I, JOHN II. HANLON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Somerville, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Track-Sanding Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention has for its object to produce certain improvements in pneumatic tracksanders for locomotives, and relates particularly to the nozzle which is employed within the sander to emit the air under pressure and to the means for cleaning the nozzle if it be comes clogged.

It also has to do with means for preventing the excessive wear on the structure caused by the projection of sand against the metallic walls of the pipes.

It has been found in connection with the use of these Sanders, especially on new locomotives, that pieces of scale which jar loose from the pipes find their way into the airnozzle and clog the air-discharge aperture, so that the sander'becomes ineffective when this occurs. A great variety of other foreign substances find their way to the nozzle of the sander, particularly from the airpump-such as grease and gum, bits of waste or packing, and even slivers of metalin addition to the scale from the pipes. It is desirable that the nozzle be constructed so that it will be unlikely to become clogged when in use and so arranged that if it does become clogged it can be easily and quickly cleaned.

My present invention provides a new and improved air-nozzle which does not readily clog and also a convenient means for removing the air-nozzle if for any reason it does become clogged.

Great difficulty has also heretofore been found in track-Sanders because the sand which is projected by the blast of compressed air from the nozzle tends to cut out very rapidly any metallic wall which the sand strikes against. Attempts have heretofore been made to minimize this effect by employing hardened steel at the points where this occurs. I nd, however, that the difficulty may be effectively overcome by constructing a pocket opposite the sand-blast. This pocket rapidly fills with sand, which forms a cushion or buffer which protects the walls of the pocket from the sand from they blast. By arranging this pocket at the proper angle with the line of motion of the particles of sand it is found that there is but; slight loss of velocity by the sand.

For convenience of illustration I ,havey shown in the accompanying drawings my. improved nozzle and clean-out device as applied to a track-sander of the kind illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 7 37,228,

`granted to me August 25, 1903, and No,

797,890, dated August 22, 1905.

The invention will be `fully understood from the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof are pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of the specification'.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in section, of a portion of a sand-dome, a sander attached thereto provided with my improved nozzle, and the clean-out device in place ready to remove the nozzle. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section, of the nozzle itself removed from the sander. Fig. k3 is a view of the scale-stopping device. Fig. 4 isan end view of my improved nozzle looking from the left as seen in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a view in section, showing the pocket opposite the airnozzle and the cushion or buer in the said pocket.

Referring to the drawings, 11 is a portion of the side wall of the sand-dome, to which is attached the sand-collector 12 on the inside of the sander. The sand-discharge pipe 13 is provided with a clean-out opening 14, by means of which the interior of the sander may be reached. At 15 is shown the hood,

and at 16 the clean-out opening by means of which the sand-inlet holes 17 are reachedto remove pebbles and other foreign substances which may clog these holes. These parts are substantially as shownin my Letters Patent heretofore referred to. Within the sander or sand-collector 12 islocated the airdischarge nozzle through which the compressed air which operates the sander is admitted to the interior of the track-sander. The expansion of the air at the point ofthe nozzle drawsthe sand in from the sand-dome through the sand-holes 17.

The construction of the air-discharge nozzle will be plainly seen by reference to Fig. 2

of the` drawings. It consists in a nozzle V18, which is V'screw -threaded v,at one end, as

roo

shown at 19, for engagement with the corre- I sponding tapped hole in the sand-collector 12. The other end of the sand-nozzle 18 is constructed in the form of a frustum of a square pyramid, as shown at 20, so that it may be readily engaged by a socket-wrench 21, (see Fig. 1,) by means of which the said nozzle 18 may be unscrewed from the sander 12 and Vwithdrawn when it is desired to clean the said nozzle 18. Thenozzle 18 is provided with an air-aperture 22', which is eX- panded at the point, as seen at 23, by counter-` l boring, so that a circular shoulder 24 is formed, which assists in preventing the sand which may lie in front of the nozzle within i the cavity of the body 12 of the sander from "jarring or otherwise working back into the air-emission aperture of the air-nozzle when thelocomotive is in motion and the sander is and the air-nozzle 18.

'l ss not in operation. Y

- At the other end of the air-discharge nozzle there is locatedl an interior scale-collector 25, which is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3.

This s'caleecollector is screw-threaded at its left-hand` end, as shown at 26, and engages corresponding screw-threads cut on the interior of the bore of the air-nozzle. The eXterior diameter of the scale-collector 25 is con- Y, siderably less than the interior diameter of the air-nozzle 18 so that a space 28 is left around the scale-collector 25 and between it The scale-collector 25 is hollow and is provided with a variety of air-inlets. One of them, 29, is a continuation of the interior bore. The end of the scalecollector 25 is as nearly pointed as it can be, so that bits of any foreign substance are less likely to lodge in the hole at the end of the said scale collector. Two other circular apertures 30 and 31 are opposite each other near the screw-threaded end 26. Four slits 32, two of which are shown in Fig. 3, are also` remove, the foreign substancefrom the hole 7 29 but whetherthe foreign substance is re- Imoved by the air or not air will continue to be admitted to the air-nozzle through the slits 32'and the holes 30 and 31. If one of the slits should` become clogged, which is very unlikely, because, as is well known, a slit is much more difficult to clog than a circular hole, the air which is entering to the interior of the scale-collector will tend to the air-apertures 30 and 31.

force the obstruction out of the clogged slit. Furthermore, the action of the compressed air upon any scale which may collect in the space between the scale-collector and the inside wall of the air-discharge nozzle tends to cause the scale to be violently agitated in this space and to break up and vwear away the said particles of scale, so thateventually they become small enough to pass through 1t is found in actual operation that this arrangement of parts permits the sander to be used very successfully, even upon new locomotives from whose pipes considerable amounts of scale are likely to jar loose.

Vhen it is desired to remove the nozzle for any reason-as, for instance, if the nozzle' should become wholly or partly clogged-it maybe -done in the following manner without removing the sand from the sand-dome: The plug 301, which ordinarily closes the clean-out 14, is removed and a tube 33, of some suitable thin material-as, for instance, tinis inserted. This tube cuts through the sand and is ofy a length sufficient to reach into the interior of the body of the sander 12 and inclose the nozzle 18, thus preventing sand from the sand-dome falling through the sand-inlet holes 17. The compressed air is then turned on forlan instant. Even if the air-discharge nozzle is badly clogged sufficient air will find its way through, so that thesand in the tube 33 will be blown out. o This is frequently not necessary, as only a small amount of sand will iind its way into the tube 33, and the amount is not sufficient to interfere with the operation of a wrench, by means of which the airdischarge nozzle is removed.

end of the air-nozzle 18 and the air-nozzle unscrewed.J By forcing the socket -wrench firmly onto the tapering end of the air-nozzle it will be found that when unscrewed the airnozzle will' come away with the socketwrench, so that it maybe withdrawn from the tube. It is then cleaned by the removal of the scale-collector 25 and may be reinserted in the same manner. The air is also turned on again for an instant after the nozzle is removed, so that the pipe itself is blown clear. The parts may then be replaced.

In Fig. 5 there is shown the pocket in which is formed the sand cushion or buffer which prevents the sand cutting out the pipe at the point opposite the air-nozzle 18.'y In the drawings I have shown this pocket asI formed in one-half of a V connection 40, the other branch of which is connected to the sand-delivery pipe 42. set in motion by the air collects in the branch 14 until it is filled, as shown at 43, so that the plug 301 is completely protected from the fiying sand by the sand which piles up in front of it. This cushion of sand effectively The sand which is 'i lOO A socket-wrench 21 is then inserted and brought into engagement with the prevents injury to the parts, but may be easily removed When it is desired to get at the air-nozzle to clean it. in a V connection the other branch of which diverges at a small angle from the line of motion ofthe sand I find that the loss of velocity by the sand is very slight. n

Pockets or sand-cushions such as I have described may be located opposite any sudden change oi' direction in the sand-discharge pipes of a pneumatic track-sanding system.

1. The improved airnozzle for track-sanders, having a tapering end for engagement With a socket-Wrench.

2. The improved air-nozzle for track-sanders, having one end tapering for engagement With the socket-Wrench and the other end screw-threaded for engagement With the body of the sander.

3. In a track-sander, the combination of sand-collector, an air-discharge nozzle and a scale-collector Within the said air-discharge nozzle.

4. In a track-sander, the combination of a sand-collector, an air-nozzle screwed into the interior of the said sand-collector7 and a scalecollector Within thesaid air-nozzle screwed to the interior thereof.

5. The improved air-nozzle for sand-collectors, comprising a nozzle-body7 having an air-aperture and an enlarged bore7 and a scale-collector Within the said enlarged bore having an exterior diameter less th n the interior diameter of the said enlarged ore.

6. The improved air-nozzle for sand-COL lectors7 comprising a nozzle-body having an air-aperture, an enlarged bore and a scalecollector Within thesaid enlarged bore, provided With air-apertures in the form of slits.

7. The improved air-nozzle for sand-collectors comprising a nozzle-body having an air-aperture7 an enlarged bore and a scalecollector Within the said enlarged bore pro- By making the pocket i vided With airapertures in the form of slits and circular holes.

8. The improved clean-out device for track-SandersJ Which comprises a tube in- I closing the air-nozzle and reaching from the exterior of the clean-out to a point back of the air-inlet holes.

9. The improved air-discharge nozzle for track-sanders having its air-discharge aperture counterbored to prevent the admission of sand to the interior of the air-discharge nozzle.

10. The improved means for preventing the Wear of sand-discharge pipes comprising a cushion or buffer of sand collected in a suitable pocket.

11. The improved means for preventing the Wear of sand-discharge pipes which consists in a pocket opposite the point of discharge in Which sand may collect and form a cushion or buffer. l

12. The improved means for preventing the Wear of sand-discharge pipes which consists of a V connection, one branch of which serves as a pocket opposite the point of discharge in which the sand collects to form a cushion or buffer, and the other Vbranch of which is connected to the sand-'discharge pipe.

13. The improved means for preventing the Wear of sand-discharge pipes Which consists of a V connection, one branch of which serves as a pocket opposite the point of disF charge in Which the sand collects to form a cushion or buffer, and the other branch of which is connected to the sand-discharge pipe, the angle between the said branches of the V connection being relatively small.

In testimony whereof I affix `my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses. JOHN H. IIANLON'. Witnesses:

GEORGE I. DIRE, JOHN H. PARKER. 

